Air compressor aftercooler

ABSTRACT

A compressor aftercooler and an aftercooler assembly incorporating the aftercooler. The aftercooler has an inlet header and a cooler outlet that are in flow communication with a cooling area therebetween such that air passing from the inlet header to the cooler outlet is reduced in temperature. A bypass outlet exits directly from the inlet header such that air passing from the inlet header to the bypass outlet bypasses the cooling area. The aftercooler assembly further comprises a valve and piping arrangement to control flow through the aftercooler.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to air compressor aftercoolers. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to an aftercooler assemblyfor providing hot or cool air from an air compressor.

Engine driven and motor driven air compressors are frequently equippedwith an aftercooler in the discharge circuit. As shown in FIG. 1, theaftercooler 10 receives air from the compressor (not shown) via an inletpipe 14. The compressed air traveling in the direction A enters theaftercooler header 11 via an inlet flange 12. The compressed air travelsacross the aftercooler as indicated by arrow C. The aftercooler 10lowers the temperature of the compressed air being delivered to theequipment connected to the compressor. The cooled air travels from theoutlet header 15 through an outlet flange 16 to a discharge pipe 18 asindicated by arrow D. An outlet valve 30 may be provided to control theflow to downstream components. The cooler air is generally required inorder to precipitate moisture from the compressed air as well as protectdownstream equipment from excessive temperatures.

In certain applications, such as petrochemical, steel and glassmanufacturing, high temperature compressed gas is required. A method tobypass the compressor aftercooler is needed for use in theseapplications. FIG. 2 illustrates a typical system for achieving bypassof the aftercooler 10. This bypass system generally incorporates anadditional piping circuit around the aftercooler 10. The inlet pipe 14includes a tee 22 with a flow path toward the inlet flange 12 and asecond path through a bypass pipe 24. A first control valve 23 isprovided before the inlet flange 12 and a second control valve 26 isprovided along the bypass pipe 24. The control valves 23 and 26 arecontrolled to provide the desired air temperature. If cool air isdesired, control valve 26 is closed while control valve 23 is opened. Assuch, the compressed air travels through the inlet flange 12, across theaftercooler as indicated by arrow C and out of the discharge pipe 18, inmanner similar to the standard aftercooler assembly of FIG. 1. If hotterair is desired, control valve 23 is closed such that the compressed aircannot enter the aftercooler 10. The control valve 26 is opened suchthat the compressed air travels through bypass valve 24 as indicated byarrow P. The bypassed air reenters the discharge pipe 18 via a tee 28. Acheck valve 29 must be provided along the discharge pipe 18 to preventthe hotter air from entering the aftercooler discharge header 15.

Engine and motor driven air compressors are constantly being required tobe packaged in increasingly smaller enclosures. The inclusion of theadditional piping inside of the compressor package adds complexity tothe assembly and service of the compressor and also increases the costof the unit. Performance of the compressor may be reduced by theadditional restriction of the cooling airflow by the additional pipework.

SUMMARY

The present invention provides a compressor aftercooler and anaftercooler assembly incorporating the aftercooler. The aftercooler hasa body having an inlet header and a cooler outlet. The inlet header andthe cooler outlet are in flow communication with a cooling areatherebetween such that air passing from the inlet header to the cooleroutlet is reduced in temperature. A bypass outlet exits directly fromthe inlet header such that air passing from the inlet header to thebypass outlet bypasses the cooling area. The aftercooler assemblyfurther comprises a first pipe section exiting the bypass outlet and asecond pipe section exiting the cooler outlet. The first and second pipesections each connected with a combining tee such that flow through thefirst and second pipe sections flows to a common discharge. A firstvalve is positioned along the first pipe section between the bypassoutlet and the common discharge and a second valve is positioned alongthe second pipe section between the cooler outlet and the commondischarge.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a standard aftercooler configuration.

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of a standard aftercooler bypassconfiguration.

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the aftercooler of a first embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the aftercooler of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of an aftercooler system according to thefirst embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the aftercooler system of FIG. 5 with thevalves positioned in a standard flow configuration.

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the aftercooler system of FIG. 5 with thevalves positioned in a bypass flow configuration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be described with reference to theaccompanying drawing figures wherein like numbers represent likeelements throughout. Certain terminology, for example, “top”, “bottom”,“right”, “left”, “front”, “frontward”, “forward”, “back”, “rear” and“rearward”, is used in the following description for relativedescriptive clarity only and is not intended to be limiting.

Referring to FIGS. 3-7, an aftercooler system 50 that is a preferredembodiment of the present invention is shown. The aftercooler system 50includes an aftercooler 52 having an inlet header 57 and an outletheader 55. The outlet header 55 has an outlet flange 56 similar to theoutlet flange of a standard aftercooler. The inlet header 57 includes aninlet flange 53 entering the header 57 and an outlet flange 54 exitingthe inlet header 57, preferably directly across from the inlet flange53. Compressed air entering the inlet flange 53 can travel through theaftercooler as indicated by arrow C or may travel directly through theinlet header 57 as indicated by arrow B.

Referring to FIGS. 5-7, the aftercooler assembly 50 includes a compactsystem of pipes 60, 62, 64 and valves 61, 63 to control flow through theaftercooler 52. A first pipe elbow 60 is connected to the outlet flange54 to receive bypassed air traveling in the direction B. A -second pipeelbow 64 is connected to outlet flange 56 to receive air that hastraveled through the aftercooler 52 as indicated by arrows C and D. Thefirst and second elbows 60, 64 are interconnected to a tee pipe 62 thatprovides a common discharge pipe 68. The discharge pipe 68 may have avalve 30 to control flow to downstream equipment.

To control flow through the aftercooler system 50 a first control valve61 is provided between the first elbow 60 and the tee 62 and a secondcontrol valve 63 is provided between the second elbow 64 and the tee 62.When cool air is desired, the first control valve 61 is closed and thesecond control valve 63 is opened as shown in FIG. 6. Air travels intothe inlet flange 53 via a standard inlet pipe 14 as indicated by arrowA. Since the first control valve 61 is closed and the second controlvalve 63 is open, the compressed air travels across the aftercooler 52as indicated by arrow C. The cooled air exits the outlet flange 56 asindicated by arrow D and travels through elbow 64 to the tee 62. Sincethe first control valve 61 is closed, the cooled compressed air travelsthrough the discharge pipe 68 as indicated by arrow E.

When hot air is desired, the first control valve 61 is opened and thesecond control valve 63 is closed as shown in FIG. 7. Air travels intothe inlet flange 53 via a standard inlet pipe 14 as indicated by arrowA. Since the first control valve 61 is opened and the second controlvalve 63 is closed, the compressed air does not travel across theaftercooler 52, but instead flows directly through the inlet header 57and out the outlet flange 54 as indicated by arrow B. The cooled airexits the outlet flange 57 and travels through elbow 60 to the tee 62.Since the second control valve 63 is closed, the cooled compressed airtravels through the discharge pipe 68 as indicated by arrow E. Thesecond control valve 63 prevents backflow into the outlet header 55 andtherefore the check valve as in the standard bypass system iseliminated.

In addition to the flow described above, the valves 61 and 63 may bepartially opened to provide a mixing of cool air and hot air to achieveair having a desired discharge temperature between the cool temperatureand the hot temperature. To facilitate such mixed air flow, theillustrated manual valves 61, 63 may be replaced with automated valves,for example, solenoid valves. The compressor controller could thanautomatically control the valves to provide a desired discharge airtemperature.

The aftercooler system 50 of the present invention uses a reduced amountof piping inside the compressor enclosure. The reduction in pipingpermits greater cooling air flow, greater access for servicing of thecompressor, a reduced number of components, and reduced cost of thecompressor system. While the illustrated piping configuration ispreferred, other piping configurations may be used. Additionally, theoutlet flange 57 may be capped and the aftercooler 52 utilized in astandard manner if such is desired. Additionally, the flow through theaftercooler 52 may be configured such that the outlet flange 56 may beprovided on the inlet header 57 side of the aftercooler.

1. A compressor aftercooler comprising: a body having an inlet headerand a cooler outlet, the inlet header and the cooler outlet in flowcommunication with a cooling area therebetween such that air passingfrom the inlet header to the cooler outlet is reduced in temperature;and a bypass outlet that exits directly from the inlet header such thatair passing from the inlet header to the bypass outlet bypasses thecooling area.
 2. A compressor aftercooler assembly comprising: anaftercooler having a body having an inlet header and a cooler outlet,the inlet header and the cooler outlet in flow communication with acooling area therebetween such that air passing from the inlet header tothe cooler outlet is reduced in temperature; and a bypass outlet thatexits directly from the inlet header such that air passing from theinlet header to the bypass outlet bypasses the cooling area; a firstpipe section exiting the bypass outlet and a second pipe section exitingthe cooler outlet; the first and second pipe sections each connectedwith a combining tee such that flow through the first and second pipesections flows to a common discharge; a first valve positioned along thefirst pipe section between the bypass outlet and the common dischargeand a second valve positioned along the second pipe section between thecooler outlet and the common discharge.